Inflows and outflows of mutual funds: a performance comparison of funds offered by traditional banks, insurance companies and mutual fund companies

Abstract

The transformations in internet technology and financial innovation have led to the prevalence of direct finance, causing indirect finance to contract and concerns among traditional banks and insurance channel operators to seek transformation to innovate traditional services with advanced technology applications. The research compares the sales revenue flows of traditional banks, insurance companies, and mutual fund institutions, using quantile regression methods with five mutual fund factors: Jensen’s indexes, expenses, risks, sizes, and turnover rates. The sample statistics from 2001 to 2016 were evident, showing the results that sales revenue flows of bank and insurance companies did not decrease when compared to institutional fund investors, but instead, grew substantially, owing to the significant relationship of better technological services and financial innovation by banks and insurance companies. The research contribution is to point out that financial industry should focus, review and strengthen its most competitive core services inside, which are less challenged by outside competitors. By adhering to financial innovation and internet technology, it is still possible for traditional banks and insurance channels to gain substantial market shares with concentration on their core competitive services.